Eighteen fourth graders from Central Elementary in Sidney, Nebraska jumped on the sled with Bruce Linton to encourage all students to follow his motto, “Live Healthy, Be Positive, & Dream Big!” Bruce has completed two consecutive Iditarods in 2007 and 2008. Being an insulin dependent diabetic has not hindered his dream of running sled dogs and competing in the Last Great Race. These 18 students and their teacher, Mrs. Roach developed a service learning project that promotes positive nutrition and exercise choices. With the help of the School Booster Club, parents, and local businesses, they sponsored healthy snack fundraisers at Central & West Elementary in Sidney.
During the months of November, December, and January the students sold healthy snacks consisting of apples, oranges, Gogurt, Shredded Wheat Cereal, low-fat pumpkin muffins, and bottled water. Each student received a healthy living card which contained Bruce’s motto and tips for healthy living. Over 400 students, in grades 4-6, were served and $500 was raised to help Bruce as he strives to set a healthy example for all people to follow.
You might be asking yourself, how did this healthy living adventure begin? Mrs. Roach loves teaching Iditarod themed lessons and tries to develop learning opportunities that involve real people and real situations. This past summer, she embarked on a technology learning adventure by taking a class titled, Developing a Moodle, through Educational Service Unit 13. A Moodle is a frame work for an online class that a teacher creates. Mrs. Roach’s Moodle is titled, Iditarod Habits of Mind. For the past three years, Mrs. Roach has taught The 16 Habits of Mind and has incorporated Iditarod Insider Clips that feature mushers and dogs of the Last Great Race in her lesson plans. Mrs. Roach was working the lesson for the habit, “Taking Responsible Risks” when the Discovery Channel’s program, Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth was being aired. Bruce Linton was one of the featured mushers on the program. Mrs. Roach was intrigued by his tenacity and thought, “Wow! Bruce Linton is really taking a risk by running the Iditarod. What an incredible accomplishment for him.” Because Mrs. Roach’s husband is an insulin dependent diabetic, she knew exactly how dangerous running the Iditarod could be for Bruce. Mrs. Roach emailed Bruce and he was more than happy to explain how he made the risk safe and successful for Team Linton. Bruce had a plan and his plan was successful! As a follow up, Bruce also helped out on the “Persistence” lesson. I bet you didn’t know that as an eighth grader Bruce rode over 90 miles in one day. Now that is being persistent! You can read about these personal experiences by clicking on the document below.
Bruce’s willingness to help out with the Moodle class led to lessons on diabetes. Earlier in the school year, Mrs. Roach team taught a unit on nutrition and fitness with Mr. Dillehay, the physical education teacher at Central Elementary. During science class the students learned about body systems and used that information to help them understand what systems are affected by diabetes. The students also read information from the National Institutes of Health and watched a video on diabetes. Mrs. Roach’s husband Gary, a Type 1 diabetic, uses an insulin pump similar to Bruce’s. He demonstrated how to check blood sugar and how he changes his insulin pump. The students created posters that hang in the school to encourage others to eat healthy and be active as a way of preventing Type 2 diabetes. What started out as a lesson on Taking Responsible Risks and Persistence turned into a multifaceted learning adventure and another great musher/student connection thanks to Bruce Linton.
Through this service learning project, the students have not only gained a better understanding of healthy living and diabetes, they have learned that you need to set goals, be persistent, and dream big. As Bruce says “You are only limited by your dreams, and your dreams should be unlimited!”
Be Healthy, Be Positive, Dream Big!!!!
If you would like more information on Mrs. Roach’s Moodle class please contact her at judi.roach@sidneyraiders.org
Bruce Linton Answers Mrs. Roach’s Questions on
Taking Responsible Risks
Question #1
Bruce, what an accomplishment for you to finish the race for two consecutive years. How do you keep your insulin from freezing? Does your pump go haywire in the cold? I know how batteries in a digital camera did not last very long in the Alaskan cold, and am wondering how you managed all of that.
Answer #1
I keep my insulin next to my body all the time. The pump is next to my skin as well. My body temp keeps it warm enough – even when I experienced temps of 35 below zero. Batteries are fine as long as the pump is relatively warm.
Question #2
I would love to use you as an example for my students to understand how you made this risk safe for yourself. Could you explain your preparations and steps that you took to ensure that you would make it through the race? The kids understand that taking risks is part of life. In order to grow as people, we all take risks. There are ways that we make risks doable with good thinking and planning.
Answer #2
There is a fair amount of planning involved. As I mentioned above, my meter is next to my body which provides enough warmth. I cover the plastic tube which is what the insulin travels through to enter my body with a felt covering to protect it from the cold. The tube is obviously underneath my clothing as well. I have five sets of everything (insulin, pump supplies, meters, etc.) stockpiled on the trail at five different checkpoint locations in case I ever need any supplies. The Iditarod Air Force flew some insulin to me in 2007 when I needed some from one of those stored locations and it worked really well.
Bruce Linton on Being Persistent
When is the first time you remembering using persistence?
I was always a very hard worker and therefore persistent as a child. I don’t really remember a particular first time as a child, but I was persistent in just about everything that I did. I remember one time when I was in about 8th grade I did a bike ride for charity. It was an all day ride and you rode as many miles as you wanted too around an 11 mile loop and you raised a certain amount of money per mile depending on how much people sponsored you per mile beforehand. Anyway, I remember winning a new bike for raising more money then everyone else on the bike ride. There were hundreds of participants and most were adults. The reason I raised the most money was
because I was very persistent and ended up riding all day long. I never stopped until the last minute (I think it was 5 pm) and I ended up biking an astonishing 91 miles that day. Adults could not believe that I could bike that far as a kid and that I was that persistent.
Can you tell us about a time as a musher that you really had to be persistent?
That is an easy question to answer. In my first Iditarod, I got stuck in a blizzard at Rainy Pass. It was 22 degrees below zero and winds blew up to 80 mph on the top of the pass. I ended up staying at that checkpoint for 32 hours and finally made it over the pass in 50 mph winds. 14 mushers dropped out of the race at that checkpoint, but I did not. I continued to Nome and finished the race because I never gave up and I was persistent!
